He did what was expected of him. And every time he laid eyes on Hope, which was several times each day, he died a little more on the inside. They’d had a taste of heaven that had been yanked away before he’d begun to satisfy his appetite for her. Of course he understood where she was coming from. When his mother left home, her job would be done, and she and Ethan would have to go elsewhere.

It was the wise thing for both of them to take a step back, but knowing that didn’t make it any easier. Staring into the mirror as he got ready for Alex’s party, Paul tried to summon the cheerfulness he’d need to see his brother through the party and the wedding. He was determined not to let his own problems—and the larger, more pressing issue of what to do about their mother’s care—take anything away from the joy of Alex and Jenny’s big day.

A long, lonely winter stretched ahead of him. He could tend to his own wounds then. It occurred to him that if they moved Marion to the mainland and Hope and Ethan left, Paul would be alone in the house that now teemed with activity. Alex and Jenny would move into their own home, and with Marion gone, there’d be no reason for David and Daisy to come by every day or the women from the church, who had been so generous about providing regular meals for them during Marion’s illness.

The house would be awfully empty and lonely without the endless activity, a thought that only added to his profound depression.

“You gotta snap out of it, man,” he whispered to his reflection. “Alex has waited a long time for this. It wouldn’t be fair to bring him down.” He gave himself a couple of minutes to summon the celebratory mood the night demanded of him before he left the bathroom.

Dressed in a gorgeous black dress, Hope came into the house as he stepped into the kitchen.

Paul stared at her. “You look amazing,” he said after a long, charged moment of silence.

“You look great, too.”

His mother’s friends had taken Marion to bridge night so Hope could attend Jenny’s bachelorette party. The ladies were fully briefed on what to expect from Marion. Paul and Alex had agreed that they should let her spend as much time with her friends as she could, while she could. Ethan was spending the night with his friend Jonah. Paul couldn’t help but wish that he could look forward to spending the night with Hope after the parties, but he couldn’t let his mind go there.

“Have a good time tonight,” Hope said. “Be careful.”

“I’ll be fine. My job is to stay sober so he can go nuts.”